Maximum PC Internet Explorer RSS Feed

Symantec Says IE Vulnerable to New Exploit

Paul Lilly — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:03:27 -0600

Internet Explorer users who have yet to upgrade to IE8 should take note. According to security firm Symantec, there's a pretty nasty Zero Day exploit that affects both IE6 and IE7.

"The exploit currently exhibits signs of poor reliability, but we expect that a fully-functional reliable exploit will be available in the near future," Symantec explained in a blog post. "When this happens, attackers will have the abilty to insert the exploit in websites infecting potential visitors."

Symantec said the attack requires JavaScript and recommends that users disable it. The security firm also suggested potentially affected users limit web surfing to only trusted sites until Microsoft releases a fix.

Image Credit: cybernetnews.com

Happy Birthday! Firefox Celebrates 5 Years of Being Better than Internet Explorer

Paul Lilly — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:07:55 -0600

Someone cut the cake, and be sure to save a slice for Microsoft, who probably won't be attending Firefox's fifth birthday. That's okay, because plenty of former Internet Explorer users have sent in their RSVP.

It's hard to believe it's been five years already, and in that relatively short time span, the open source browser has come to claim over 330 million users around the globe. It's the second most used browser on the planet, and while Firefox's market share is barely visible in IE's rear view mirror, Mozilla's browser is quickly catching up and is on pace to pull ahead well before another 5 years goes by.

In celebration of Firefox's fifth birthday, Mozilla communities all hosting parties are over the place in a campaign called "Light the World with Firefox." Need more details? Check it out here.

Image Credit: Flickr Ryan Doherty

Stealthy Microsoft Plug-in Adds Vulnerability to Firefox

Bart Salisbury — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:17:22 -0500

Microsoft’s .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1) update, which came out last February, seems to have slipped a roofie to both Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox in the form of a “browse-and-get-owned attack vector.” The issue with Firefox is a point of contention with some users because Microsoft didn't make users aware that Firefox was being modified.

The security weakness was introduced through the Windows Presentation Foundation plug-in, which was installed both in IE and Firefox. According to Annoyances.org, the update made Firefox susceptible to one of IE’s biggest weaknesses: “the ability for websites to easily and quietly install software on your PC.”

Initially, the plug-in couldn’t be removed from Firefox, a problem rectified by a May update to the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. However, given that Microsoft has revisited the issue in a newly released security bulletin, the problem seems to persist.

If you are a Firefox user and have .NET Framework 3.5 installed you might want to check for the Windows Presentation Foundation plug-in and, if it is present, disable it. Microsoft’s security bulletin provides these instructions: “Tools”-> “Add-ons” -> “Plugins”, select “Windows Presentation Foundation”, and click “Disable”.

Image Credit: ktpupp/flickr

Netscape Navigator Turns 15

Ryan Whitwam — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:23:15 -0500

The Internet was just beginning to find a mainstream audience in 1994. It could be said that the introduction of Netscape Navigator on October 13th of that year had a lot to do with increasing internet adoption. Netscape was a huge leap forward, easily leapfrogging other graphical browsers. It supported colored backgrounds, text styling, JavaScript, and media embedding. In many ways, it was the first modern web browser.

By 1996, Netscape had captured 80% market share. Development was rapid, seeing the incorporation of CSS and table layout features as time passed. Microsoft put out the first version of Internet Explorer a year after Netscape, but found little success.

The good times couldn’t last forever, though. Microsoft released IE 4 in 1998. Thanks to some advanced features, IE captured the number one spot in only 12 months. A series of poor decisions left the Netscape browser in the hands of AOL, and we all know how that went. Development slowed, and the once great browser languished. Support was finally completely dropped in 2008.

Amid all the dark times, one great thing did happen with Netscape. The browser code was open-sourced in February 1998. It wouldn’t become apparent until years later how well that worked out for the web. From Netscape, the Mozilla Foundation built Firefox. Many feel that the Firefox browser is the best available, and it enjoys a healthy 27% market share. Let’s all have a moment of silence to remember Netscape on, this, its 15th birthday. Was Netscape your first browser? Any fond memories of those dial-up days?

Vista and IE Lose Market Share, Windows 7 Makes Gains

Paul Lilly — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:26:43 -0500

Out with the old and in with the new appears to be the theme for September. It doesn't even matter that Windows 7 hasn't been officially released yet, the Release Candidate has been solid enough for Vista users to leave their old OS behind and rock out with Microsoft's newest darling, according to market share data by web metrics firm Net Applications.

Vista's market share dipped by 0.18 percent in September, which isn't earth shattering, but it is the first time the OS has back tracked since January 2008. Windows 7, on the other hand, climbed 0.34 percent and now claims 1.52 percent of the market. Not bad for a pre-release OS.

On the browser front, Internet Explorer fared a little worse, losing 1.26 percent of its market share. The continued backwards slide has to be troubling for Microsoft, especially considering IE's market share set a new low of 65.7 percent. That's good news for Firefox and Chrome, whose market share jumped by 0.77 percent and 0.33 percent, respectively.

Mozilla Sides with Microsoft Against IE-into-Chrome Plug-in

Paul Lilly — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:00:28 -0500

Turns out Microsoft isn't the only one concerned about Google's Chrome Frame, an extension which embeds Google's Chrome browser in Internet Explorer. Emerging as an unlikely supporter in Microsoft's corner, Mike Shaver, VP of Engineering for Mozilla, added his thoughts in a blog post.

"Running Chrome Frame within IE makes many of the browser application's features non-functional, or less effective," Shaver wrote. ""These include private browsing mode or their other security controls, features like accelerators or add-ons that operate on the content area, or even accessibility support."

Shaver when on to say that the users would be "seriously hindered" in understanding the web's security model and how their browser operates. A better solution, says Shaver, is if Frame-friendly sites explained to users that their site worked better in Chrome.

Image Credit: topnews.us

Ballmer Shares his Thoughts on Browsers and Operating Systems

Ryan Whitwam — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:21:55 -0500

Steve Ballmer recently sat down with Techcrunch to wax philosophical about browsers and their connection to the operating system. Ballmer was asked about the legal disputes over Internet Explorer bundling. Without missing a beat, he called the notion that operating systems can be independent of internet access “not a sensible concept”.

Ballmer went on to take a few swings at the upcoming Chrome OS, saying, “If you remember, [Marc Andreessen] said something like, Windows will just be a poorly debugged set of device drivers running Netscape… Now, that’s kind of basically the attitude expressed in Chrome Browser, Chrome OS.” He also called Chrome’s browser market share a “rounding error”, but noted that Firefox is having a real impact. Ouch for Chrome.

When asked about how Microsoft will fare against the continued onslaught of competitors, he answered like he’d been thinking about it a lot. Ballmer explained that Macs attack from the top of the market, and PC sales have gained a bit on Macs in the last year as people shied away from more expensive options. He went on to say that Netbooks were going to continue to be a big part of the Windows strategy.

Ballmer clearly lays out a world in which competitors are sometimes operating systems, sometimes browsers, and in the future may even be both. Even with all these new threats, he seems pretty sure Microsoft will stay on top. What do you think?

EU Grows Skeptical of Browser Ballot

Pulkit Chandna — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:52:07 -0500

In July, the European Commission and Microsoft finally reached some common ground in their protracted dispute over the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows, when Microsoft finally assented to the Commission’s favorite solution: a browser ballot. But the European Commission wants to make sure that the proposed browser ballot doesn’t eventually turn out be a well thought out artifice.

Soon after receiving Microsoft’s assent, the Commission secretly sent out a questionnaire about the proposed ballot screen to browser developers and PC makers. The Wall Street Journal has managed to get its hand on the results of that questionnaire.

The European Committee for Interoperable Systems, a non-profit association, which includes Norwegian browser maker Opera among its ranks, isn’t quite convinced by the idea of a ballot screen and the manner in which Microsoft has proposed to implement it. ECIS believes that the entire process of choosing a different browser contains “threatening and confusing warnings and questions.”

"Microsoft has cunningly found a way to accept the commission's suggestion of a ballot screen, but to do so in a way that will be entirely ineffective," ECIS's lawyer, Thomas Vinje, told the WSJ. Ironically, Microsoft plans to offer the ballot screen from within Internet Explorer. Though not opposed to the idea, Mozilla wants it to be modified.

Image Credit: ZDNet